"This should be the place… Holy cow, why is there such a huge crowd?"
A young woman stared at the address on her phone, then looked up at the shopfront before her.
After confirming the address was correct, she was shocked all over again by the sea of people packed around the entrance.
"Hey there, miss — you here for those Energy Cubes too? The ones that boost the Beauty stat and help Feebas evolve into Milotic real fast?"
The young woman nodded. "Mhm, mister! Are you here for the same thing?"
"A… a mister?" The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then: "Ah, yes. That's right. I'm here for that too."
He said it and then tried to tuck the bare foot he had no shoe on even further behind him.
"Good thing you got here a bit later — they're already forming a line."
The man said, staring hollowly at the chaotic crowd jostling in front of the store as he lit a cigarette.
He'd been sitting here for half a day, and he still couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. Of all the places, someone had stepped in his shoe and walked off with it right here? A shoe he wasn't even wearing anymore?
"Excuse me? Hellooo?"
The girl waved a hand in front of the man. How had he just gone silent all of a sudden?
"Hm? Oh, what is it?"
The girl looked at him, curious. "So, mister — do you have a Feebas?"
The man nodded. "Of course. Why else would I be here?"
He said it, and couldn't help but think again about his departed shoe.
"Then, mister… is Feebas hard to raise?"
The man nodded. "It's manageable, I guess. But Feebas are a lot more sensitive than most Pokémon. You've gotta be patient — way more patient than usual."
"I see." The girl thought it over, then bounced off toward the line with a skip in her step.
"Thank you, mister! I've made up my mind — I'm gonna raise a Feebas!"
Watching the vibrant girl depart, the man couldn't help but sigh. Young people have it good.
After his moment of reflection, he looked back at the crowd and his expression soured again. Damn it. My shoe!
---
Word of Auron Vale's article on Feebas evolution conditions spread like wildfire across the Dragon Kingdom.
Countless people were enchanted by Milotic's looks.
But just as many had kept Milotic for decades without ever seeing it evolve.
Now, seeing someone lay out the exact conditions for Milotic's evolution, plus Energy Cubes that could actually assist the process — everyone was beside themselves with excitement.
Finally, FINALLY — am I going to get my very own Milotic?
And so, everyone who'd read the article and harbored a secret Milotic dream made their way to their nearest Pokémon store, hoping to buy a Feebas egg and nurse it all the way to evolution.
But for every person celebrating, someone else was panicking.
In a certain celebrity's home, a female star was watching her world grow cold by the minute.
This starlet had no particular talent, no acting chops to speak of, and her singing was hardly worth mentioning.
The only reason she'd become famous was because she owned a Milotic.
Thanks to her Milotic, everyone wanted to experience the thrill of "cloud-raising" it — and so she'd gradually become a household name.
From there, riding the online buzz brought in by her Milotic, she'd taken her Pokémon along to appear in any number of movies. She was a red-hot celebrity now.
But it was easy to see what was coming: now that the article was out, no one needed to cloud-raise through her anymore. Her commercial value had plummeted.
And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Her usual playbook — buying bots, trending hashtags, digging up dirt on rivals — all completely useless.
Because the article hadn't been published by some random outlet.
It had been published by the state media.
---
"Xiao Ze, how's it going?"
"Five of them — all taken over."
"Nice!"
Auron Vale hadn't spared a single thought for the Feebas article. He was completely absorbed in the work at the testing grounds.
"The second batch of fossils is here! Someone come receive them!"
"Ashen Vale, you go — you're the only one who's free."
Grandpa Lu Xingguo gave a nod toward the people at the door, then turned to Ashen Vale.
Ashen Vale had no choice but to nod helplessly. There was indeed no one else free — his Aura ability was completely useless for this kind of work.
Once the receiving arrangements were sorted, Grandpa Lu Xingguo and Auron Vale got back to the fossil-sorting work.
Time slipped away in the midst of all this busyness.
Everyone had their own thing going on.
Everyone except Snorlax.
Auron Vale had left for work, taking Mini Draco and Deoxys with him.
Big Sis Crobat had gone out for her regular morning training.
Charizard was in the backyard teaching Incineroar fire control, with Probopass lying right next to it, basking in the sun and watching them practice.
Crawdaunt had somehow gotten talking to Gallade, and Gallade was now coaching it on close-range attack moves and technique.
Elekid had been dragged off by Electivire for special training — so now the only ones left were Snorlax, soaking up the sun on the grass, and Farfetch'd still working away at its slashing practice nearby.
Snorlax tilted its head to look at Farfetch'd. Its slashing was getting faster by the day.
From when it first started — one slow stroke at a time — to now, where it could flick its leek around like a flourish. All that progress had happened right under Snorlax's nose.
Snorlax watched for a while, and Farfetch'd seemed to sense something was off. Its slashes lost their flow.
Farfetch'd patted Snorlax's belly and then ran off to Lucario for some actual combat practice.
Snorlax startled upright. Did… did I do that?
It thought it over, then lay back down. Eh. Probably not my fault.
(But… is lying around all day really okay?)
Snorlax bathed in the warm sun and watched its friends training hard. A sense of guilt crept in.
(It should be fine, right? Nothing going on today. Resting one day is fine too.)
Snorlax finished its long internal pep talk, finally talked itself into feeling okay — and then Bewear showed up.
(Let's go get some cake.)
(Let's!)
Snorlax bounced right up and threw an arm around Bewear, heading out the door.
Was Snorlax really the type of Pokémon to laze around all day?
No way!
I'm super hardworking!
(That cake… I've been craving it forever. But I can never find the place, and it's so far.)
(Don't worry — this time I'll show you the way.)
(Really really?!)
(Hey — wanna hit the Fighting Dojo after?)
Snorlax was lost in the taste of cake, barely processing what Bewear was saying. It just nodded on instinct.
Can do, can do!
(Chapter complete.)
———
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